Whilst his Gloucester team mates are preparing to take on their local rivals in Bristol, Kingsholm full back / winger Rob Thirlby will be packing his kit bag for a slightly further journey.  The 27 year old from Penzance is returning to England Sevens duty as he was today named in the England squad to play in next week's Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens.
 
Thirlby, who has been involved with England Sevens since 1999, said, "It's been a hard start to the season for me at Gloucester as there are lots of talented youngsters coming through the ranks meaning I have had limited game time. However, on the plus side I have been able to train a lot harder, particularly with regards to sevens so I have really focused on my fitness.  It means that I should be in great shape to go away with the England Sevens team and hopefully play well in Dubai and George.
 
Last year the decision to concentrate on my XVs rugby instead of continuing with sevens was really Gloucesters call and I was happy to be playing regular rugby.  This year with such competition for places I am just happy to be able to play and have always loved playing sevens so am really pleased to be involved again.  It was quite hard not being involved last season.  The squad seemed to have a really good team spirit last year and watching them go off to the Commonwealth Games and then winning Hong Kong was quite hard and I was quite jealous to be honest."
 
England depart for Dubai on Sunday and the tournament begins on Friday 1st December.  Rob continued, "I have played in Dubai a few times now and think its such a fantastic place to go. It is developing so fast that each year you go back there is something new and more and more going on.  Its a great tournament to play in with 30,000 ex-pats all cheering for you.  To play in front of that crowd, with so much buzz going on around the city is brilliant."
 
After Dubai, which England have won for the last two seasons, the squad will travel to the Emirates Airline George Sevens in South Africa.  Rob explained, "George is very different to Dubai and they work well together. Its a lot quieter and the stadium is in a beautiful location with mountains in the background.  It's growing each season and the crowd are all very knowledgeable about rugby and are very supportive of their home team."
 
Rob will be joined by seven uncapped players in Dubai and admits to feeling like one of the old boys within the squad.  "This year there are so many new, young players in the squad that there is a bit of pressure on the few of us who have played international sevens before. In previous years I was used to being the youngster and looking up to the more experienced players and now I look around and feel quite old!  I am looking forward to playing with the youngsters. They have already grasped the theory of playing sevens very well and now it will be interesting to see how they take the next step onto the pitch and how they cope with the pressure.   However much they are prepared in advance you can't teach them the pain they will feel by playing such a fast game so many times in two days.  They need to learn for themselves how hard they can push their own bodies."
 
Asked if his Gloucester team mates were jealous of his travels with the England team, Rob laughed and said, "There is a bit of jealousy in the ranks back in Gloucester with them saying to me that I am off on my holidays when I go to play sevens, but at the same time they all understand how hard sevens is as otherwise they would be trying to earn selection themselves.   In addition to my club training I have to stick in an extra two to three conditioning sessions per week.  It takes up a lot of time but you really appreciate it in turns of the effect it has on my fitness when it comes to sevens.  The other players see how much extra training and fitness work I have to do to be in contention for England so I don't worry too much about their jokes."
 
England Sevens squad for Dubai:
Nick Abendanon (Bath Rugby)*
Jack Adams (Gloucester)*
Simon Amor (London Wasps), Captain
Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers)*
David Doherty (London Wasps)*
Ben Gollings (Doncaster)
James Haskell (London Wasps)*
Michael Hills (Sale Sharks)*
Dominic Shabbo (London Irish)*
David Strettle (NEC Harlequins)
Rob Thirlby (Gloucester Rugby)
Andy Vilk (Sale Sharks)
 
* uncapped